Roseanne

Roseanne was an American sitcom about...Americans! Instead of the plastic Hollywood stories your used to in the sitcoms and cinema with hot blondes and big muscly models, Roseanne brought you the reality. Roseanne is a heavy, sometimes obnoxious mother of three, happily married to her husband, Dan, a struggling working man. Becky is their bratty, attractive, miss popular high school student, who can be described as selfish, and sometimes difficult, but in general intelligent. Darlene is the second oldest, known for her rebellious attitude and wise-cracking quirps around the house. D.J. is the baby, known for his nerdy antics and his common spats with Darlene and Becky. Both Roseanne and Dan work hard, but can never seem to get out of their indebtness. A typical blue-collar American family.

Joining them in their daily life is Roseanne's younger sister, the nosy Jackie, who is often low on her luck, especially when it comes to men. Roseanne and Jackie's crazy mother, Bev, is known for stopping by uninvited to criticize the everyday lives of Roseanne and Jackie. Roseanne's best friend Crystal is just your average subject of a blues song, raising her son alone and working hard to fit in the middle-class status.

As time went on, the characters changed, and grew into different personalities, just like reality. Becky met the rebel dumb-as-bricks Mark Healy and dated him continiously, despite Roseanne and Dan's disapproval. Eventually, Becky eloped with Mark and wound up moving back to Lanford, living in an old trailer park. Becky found it difficult to follow her dreams as the "smart one", despite her perfect grades in high school, due to her marriage and her need to work. Becky's presence around the family became scarce within the last year of the series.

Darlene began to date Mark's younger brother, the sensitive, easy-going, artistic David Healy. Their relationship was built on Darlene controlling, and owning, David. After getting into a huge fight with his mother, David moved into the Conner house, living in the basement. The two of them tried to get into an art school in Chicago, but only Darlene was accepted, which eventually resulted in the two breaking up. Through thick and thin, the two managed to get back together, and eventually, they married, and Darlene became pregnant.

Jackie went through many struggles in her love life, never able to compare to Roseanne's happy marriage to Dan. She met a man by the name of Fred and had what was supposed to be a one night stand with him, which lead to her pregnancy. Originally resistant of Fred, the two found a fondess for each other and decided to get married. Unfortunately, they decided it best to split up when they realized they had no spark. Jackie would continue to struggle with this problem.

Dan's parents were never a good example of a picture perfect marriage. His father Ed was always away from home, and Dan's mother spent almost all her life in and out of mentally ill institutions. Roseanne's best friend, Crystal, caused some major friction when she chose to marry and have a child with Dan's father, and later another child. Ed continued to refrain from being home.

Roseanne decided to get into business with her sister Jackie, her friend Nancy, and ultimately Beverly. Beverly later retaliated by selling out to Roseanne's rival former boss Leon, started the 'Lanford Lunchbox', a name coined by D.J. It was a dream come true for the family. Dan also had his own business at one point, running a bike shop, however, unfortunately for him, it fell through. He later worked as a manager for the city garage.

The Conners knew how to stick together, and resembled a true family, with comical antics along with dramatic climaxes. Roseanne and Dan were there for each other, and their children, as they watched them grow up, fall in love, make good and bad decisions, and eventually start families of their own.
8.8/10 (10 Votes cast)